Why Tablets Matter for Your Automatic Number Plate Recognition

13 Sep 2012

Why do media tablets matter for eCitations & Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) operations? This phenomenon will change the future of computing in business. Get up to speed on what is happening in a very fast-moving area. What should your next move be?

In the world of trendy consumer tablets, the once venerated rugged tablet PC has had to reinvent itself as demand increases for the highly sought after form factor of the media tablet. Some of the most defining characteristics that differentiate the media tablet from the tablet PC are as follows:

no digitizer (aka no stylus)

gesture based lateral swipe navigation

pinch zoom

In a nutshell, very iPad-esque.

The Consumerization of the Media Tablet in Business

As much as tablets and smart phones have become known for entertainment, there is a place for productivity in the business world as well. Increasingly enterprise versions of consumer tablets are making an appearance on the product road maps of players in the rugged and semi-rugged markets (see table below). As the popularity of tablets continues to grow, we will continue to see a diversification in types of apps being developed for tablets that focus on enterprise based solutions. Move over Angry Birds.

More than just a consumer toy, there’s a place for these tablets in business too. Apps in the enforcement industry are emerging on tablets that lend themselves well to day-to-day activities of foot and patrol officers where mobility is key. An eCitations app for example, as seen in the photo above, has been re-imagined to suit the elegant, hyper intuitive multi-touch precision pinching as well as sweep and flourish gestures that have been popularized by the iPad and Android tablet based operating systems. Even Microsoft is now finally catching up with its Windows 8 OS which is optimized for tablet use with special mention going to Microsoft’s new flagship tablet, the Surface. Just in case your were thinking that a media tablet was merely a touchscreen or pen interface affixed to a PC, think again. The “instant on” ultra responsive media tablet is a giant leap from its tablet PC ancestor.

When you thought technology couldn’t make it any easier…

Advancements in traffic enforcement have come a long way. With the advent of electronic citations coupled with automatic number plate recognition (ANPR), the way enforcement is conducted changed completely. However, as this market matures and adopters become a majority new advancements have again enhanced the enforcement process making it even easier to complete an eCitation than traditional mobile devices because of its intuitive design.

Advancements in traffic enforcement have come a long way. With the advent of electronic citations coupled with automatic number plate recognition (ANPR), the way enforcement is conducted changed completely. However, as this market matures and adopters become a majority new advancements have again enhanced the enforcement process making it even easier to complete an eCitation than traditional mobile devices because of its intuitive design.

Tablets remove the burden of computing and let the user merely act—and get useful work done.

Tablets boot up within seconds, are comprised of fewer hardware parts and tend to be light speedy alternatives that rely on substantially less battery power. A field officer can for example have a tablet mounted in-vehicle and then rapidly remove it from the mount for instant in-hand computing with the functionality of a laptop and portability of a PDA. At the end of the shift the officer may then return to office to execute ‘head-down’ data entry if need be.

Back at the office, and in courts, the portable design of the tablet lends itself well to producing analytic reports and dashboards. Portable design and 7″ to 10″ screen real estate offer a convenient alternative for sharing data as quickly as looking at hard copy page of a report, flipping through documents and viewing video with out delays in launching applications. Literally the screen goes where you go without the, at times, cumbersome keyboard.

Can I Get a Show of Hands IT Managers?!

Apart from the obvious aesthetics, tablets have alot going for them. From applications and media content to the underlying developer ecosystem and uniformity of design, the media tablet offers a compelling alternative. A tablet OS creates a development environment conducive to instant access to apps allowing users to subscribe to applications within an ecosystem via a portal. It makes for a rich user experience, solid support and easy upgrades.

Usually the most resistant to change, IT Managers are anticipating shifts in computing as tablet consumerization slowly encroaches on more traditional territory. Approximately 85% of IT Managers expect to start supporting tablets and 48% were already supporting within 6 months of the iPad’s launch.

Tablets take the torture out of automation, getting the computer out of the way in order to let the user do what he or she wants to do and what the software was intended to do: make your job easier and more efficient.